


The Great Boop War of 2018

by Cerillen



Series: Chronicles of an Anxious Protector [9]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: And they only get more ridiculous when put together, Gen, It's the Great Boop War, They are also just plain ridiculous individuals, Thomas is so confused, Virgil and Patton are the best kind of best freinds, no one is safe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-25
Updated: 2019-01-01
Packaged: 2019-05-28 12:42:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,181
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15049310
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cerillen/pseuds/Cerillen
Summary: There's a game Patton and Virgil have been playing together for years.And the others are finally noticing it.





	1. Someone Notices

The first person to notice it was, surprisingly, Thomas.

The day he noticed wasn’t a particularly special one.

It was a relaxing sort of day and Thomas was taking the time to just sit at his table and read a book for once.

Roman was on an adventure in the Imagination Plane, Logan was helping Deceit sort through memories in the Memory Archives, Patton was in Thomas’ kitchen baking something that smelled heavily of cinnamon, and Virgil was taking a nap on the couch nearby.

Everything was peaceful and everyone was at peace.

Thomas glanced up when Patton eventually entered the room and gave a quiet thanks when the moral side placed a small plate of cookies on the table for him.

He watched Patton walk around the couch as he took a bite and couldn’t help but smile alongside him when Virgil remained sound asleep despite the approaching presence.

The father figure smiled fondly at the anxious side sprawled across the couch and crouched beside him to get a bit closer.

Then, Thomas watched as his smile became slightly more mischievous and Patton slowly reached out and swiftly pressed his index finger against Virgil’s nose.

“Boop.”

And Patton leaped back, seemingly to run away, only for Virgil to shoot up from the couch and grab him around the waist.

_**“Cheating!”** _

Virgil’s, slightly warped from sleep, voice boomed through the house as Patton squealed in response.

Thomas watched with a slightly detached sort of shock as Virgil easily pulled Patton back onto the couch with him, ignoring the other side’s struggles as he pinned him against his chest and onto his lap.

Patton continued to squeal and giggle, struggling even while knowing that he wouldn’t get away unless Virgil wanted him to.

Then, when Patton was properly secured, Virgil freed one of his hands and lightly placed his own index finger on the other’s nose.

“Boop snoot.”

Patton only laughed more in response and finally just relaxed against the other, accepting his fate for what it was.

And Thomas had absolutely no idea what had just happened.

He remained at the table, silently staring with a cookie in his hand as the two sides started having a conversation that only made him even more confused than before.

“You cheated. That’s messed up, Pat.”

Said Virgil.

“I did  **not**  cheat. You’re just as alert when you’re awake as you are when you’re sleeping so I think it should count as fair game.”

Patton said back.

“But I was relaxing. You shouldn’t just boop people in there sleep, Pat, it’s rude. What if I was having a really nice dream or something?”

“Then I’ll just have to make sure you have an even better dream later.”

“That’s an adorable thing to say but that doesn’t make up for you booping me in my sleep.”

“Okay, but how about cookies? Will that make up for it?”

Virgil blinks at Patton for a moment then quickly sniffs the air before raising an eyebrow at the side currently grinning at him on his lap.

“Did you seriously make oatmeal raisin cookies just so you could appease me when you booped me in my sleep?”

Patton’s grin did not falter. In fact, it only seemed to grow in response to Virgil’s words.

“Maybe. Is it working?”

Virgil squinted at him for a while, Patton remaining still as he continued to grin and stare back.

And then the anxious side sighed and slid to lay horizontally on the couch, Patton giggling all the while.

“Unfortunately, yes it is. But this is the last time, okay?” Virgil spoke as he finally released the other side and allowed him to stand. “Next time, I won’t be swayed as easily.”

Patton continued to giggle, the smile on his face practically reaching his ears, as he pulled the other up from the couch by his hand.

“You say that every time, Virgil.”

Virgil huffed before grabbing Patton around the middle and hauling him up to be carried on his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

Patton let out a little squeal once again but seemed perfectly content with the new arrangement as Virgil carried him away and into the kitchen.

“Yeah, and I mean it every time too. It’s not my fault that you and oatmeal cookies are my weakness.”

“It’s not?”

“It’s not.”

“Are you sure about that?”

“Please don’t quote memes. It’s making it harder for me to be upset with you.”

Patton simply burst out laughing, Virgil finally putting him down on the counter and sitting beside him while he ate his first cookie.

And Thomas just stared.

If anything he had more questions now that he’d heard them talk than he’d had when the boop had first happened.

“Um, guys…” He started to say.

“Oh!”

Virgil looked over at Patton with a raised eyebrow.

“What?”

Patton smiled sheepishly, rubbing at the back of his neck.

“I may have just remembered that I was supposed to sort through some backed up memories for Deceit.”

“And when were you supposed to give them to him?”

“Maybe tomorrow? I honestly can’t remember…”

Virgil gave a half-hearted glare, the moral side squirming a little under the gaze, before sighing again and hopping nimbly off the counter top.

Then he held his hands in front of him and liquid like shadows seeped down from his fingers for a moment before transforming into a small purple fabric bag with his symbol on it.

Patton cooed at the design as Virgil quickly and carefully placed a good chunk of the still warm cookies inside.

When he was finished, he turned to the moral side and once again pulled him up to rest on his shoulder.

And Patton simply giggled as he settled easily into the position, like it was something he did every day.

Then Virgil turned towards Thomas and gave a quick two finger solute.

“Later, Thomas.”

“Bye, kiddo!”

Patton shouted and waved right before the two sunk out of the real world and back into the Mindscape.

And Thomas…

Had no  **idea**  what had just happened.

He just stared at the cookie in his hand, glancing between the couch and the kitchen on occasion as he tried to parse through all of the information that entire situation had just given him.

Then, he sat back in his chair and stared at the ceiling with wide eyes.

“My entire life is a lie.”


	2. A Logical Assumption

The second to notice was Logan.

The day was slightly less peaceful.

But it was early in the morning and Logan was enjoying the temporary peace that came with being awake when the others were not.

Though, there was  **one**  other side awake.

But, of course, this was the only side that could be awake at this time without disrupting the quiet atmosphere Logan enjoyed in the mornings.

“Good morning, Virgil.”

Logan spoke as he passed through the living room, and Virgil simply waved and grunted from his spot on the couch in response.

The logical side easily accepted the nonverbal greeting and went about his usual morning routine within the kitchen.

Less than an hour later, he returned to the living room and decided to make himself comfortable on the couch beside his silent companion.

As the hours ticked by with the two sides quietly enjoying their own activities, they slowly gravitated towards each other.

By the time the loud bang of Roman’s door opening signaled the start of their usual breakfast time routine, Virgil was laying with his torso on Logan’s lap while Logan was leaning the majority of his upper body against Virgil’s raised knees.

“Good morning all! How is everyone on this most glorious day?”

Before Logan could answer the creative side himself, there was a small hissing sound that made him blink and look down at Virgil in surprise. 

But the hissing had not come from the anxious side’s mouth.

No, much to Logan’s immense confusion, the hissing had come from his  **stomach**.

“Better now that you’re here.”

A voice from Virgil’s stomach spoke with drowsy irritation.

Roman joined Logan in his confusion and looked around the common area incredulously.

“Deceit? Where in the world…”

“Oh.”

And Logan suddenly realized that he and Virgil had apparently not been the only sides in the living room this entire time.

“Good morning, Deceit. My apologies for not greeting you earlier. I did not realize you were joining us this morning.”

There was a quiet, and slightly hissing, sigh as a very small yellow snake poked its head out of Virgil’s hoodie pocket and turned its tired gaze toward Logan.

“G’morning, Logan. And it’s not fine. I wasn’t sleeping when you came in earlier so I probably would have noticed anyways.”

Virgil snorted without even looking away from his phone and Deceit turned his head to glare at him.

“Keep talking. It’s too early for lies.”

“It’s already ten, Dee.”

“No it’s not, and I’ve already eaten breakfast so I’m wide awake now.”

“Oh!”

The others turned in Roman’s direction at the sound of his exclamation.

“Yes, Roman?”

Logan looked at the other curiously as the creative side seemed to be scanning the room for something once again.

Or some **one**.

“Speaking of breakfast, where is our dear Padre? Did he stay up too late watching Parks and Rec again?”

Logan blinked in surprise.

He had actually forgotten that Patton was supposed to be up and making breakfast by now.

He must have been more absorbed in his reading than he’d thought…

Regardless, the question had been brought forth and everyone wanted an answer now.

So three heads, one snake and two human, turned towards the one who patrolled the halls at night and would be the most likely to know the answer they sought after.

And, sure enough, Virgil sighed and sat up with a nod.

“Yeah, he stopped at around four in the morning though, so he should probably be fine if one of us wakes him up now.”

And the other three remained silent as they continued to stare until Virgil looked up at them and simply groaned in response.

“Fine, I’ll wake him. You bunch of babies…”

The others said their thanks as Virgil got up, pausing a moment for Deceit to vacate the pocket he’d been in, and walked over to the stairs and up towards the moral side’s room.

The relief in the room was palpable as the others made their way to the kitchen to prepare for breakfast.

Thomas himself was not a morning person.

The reason for this was that the majority of his personality traits  **also**  were not morning people.

This majority included Roman and Deceit. But also, surprisingly, Patton.

Each had their own reasons for hating mornings.

And Patton’s was that he tended to stay up until ungodly hours of the morning watching TV shows.

So, occasionally, the fatherly side would sleep through his usual alarm and end up being late to breakfast.

This would normally just mean that he missed the meal and had to eat by himself later.

However, the first time the others had allowed this to happen, Patton had been so incredibly sad about it that Thomas ended up spontaneously crying while looking at a picture of a snake wearing a top hat because, “THEY DON’T HAVE ARMS, LOGAN!”

So it had become a rule that, should Patton not be awake by the time breakfast was meant to start, someone would be sent upstairs to wake the sleeping side up.

And this would be a fine arrangement that nobody had any problem with.

If it weren’t for another of Patton’s terrible sleeping habits.

Because, you see, Patton is very much not a morning person.

So, when someone wakes him up before he’s ready to be awake, he tends to react rather explosively.

The worst scenario one could expect would be a punch to the face or the abdomen if they didn’t wake the other side properly.

Other scenarios included, but were not limited to, being pulled into the bed and forced to remain there, having something thrown at them, being shouted at, or Patton crying in tired frustration.

None of these scenarios were ideal and only one of the sides seemed properly equipped to handle all of them.

And that was the side they always tried to send up whenever they had the chance.

Because Virgil, thankfully, had the reflexes to avoid flying objects and punches, the strength to resist Patton when he tries to pull him into bed, and enough experience with the moral side as a whole to be able to deal with whatever more emotionally charged reactions he may throw his way.

This essentially meant that, unless he was also asleep or busy at the time, it was Virgil’s job to wake Patton up.

Virgil, himself, was fine with this.

In fact, though he would never admit this to the others, he kind of enjoyed it.

The reason being that, unbeknownst to the other sides, Patton had very specific reactions to whichever side happened to wake him up.

When it was Roman, he tried to throw things or hit the other in an attempt to make him be quieter.

When it was Logan, he tended to shout in the hopes of convincing him to leave and would sometimes cry when it didn’t work.

When it was Deceit, he always dragged him into bed with the mindset that the reptilian side would enjoy the cuddles enough that he would be willing to just stay and sleep too.

But when it was Virgil, well…

“Hey, Pat?”

Virgil quietly crept into the room, skillfully walking through the dark towards the large and fluffy bed in the corner.

“Pat.”

There was a quiet grumbling noise as he flicked on the lamp on the bedside table and Virgil smiled just a little.

Then he very carefully climbed onto the bed and, in a way that wouldn’t alert Patton to what he was doing, he curled himself around the other.

“Patty.”

The moral side grumbled from within his blanket cocoon and wriggled a bit closer to the warm body beside him.

Virgil’s smile became a grin with a slight wickedness coming through it and then, after taking a moment for a dramatic pause, he rolled on top of Patton.

“Guh! Virgil!”

Patton’s disgruntled voice only served to amuse Virgil further as he wrapped his arms firmly around the other, gave him a quick squeeze that was met with a huffing whine of “No!”, and stood up with Patton still wriggling sleepily in his arms.

“Virgil! Put me down!”

The slightly slurred complaints just made Virgil chuckle as he started to gently hop on the bed.

“Not a chance, Pat. You’ll fall back asleep if I do.”

“No!”

“Yes, you will. So I’m gonna just wake you up a bit more to keep that from happening, okay?”

“NO!”

Patton’s vehement shouts were only met with more laughter and were stopped completely when the anxious side made a single sizable jump on the bed, twisted them around so he was on his back midair, and landed heavily on the mattress below.

The moral side whined again, but Virgil could feel the ghost of a smile pressing against his shoulder where he assumed Patton’s face was.

He considered his options for a moment before coming to a decision that left him wanting to cackle in delight.

He sighed, as dramatically as he could manage.

Patton barely held in a snort.

“Well, it looks like you’re not gonna be getting up so easily today. Guess I’ll just have to take some drastic measures.”

And then, before Patton could even react to the slightly ominous words, Virgil grabbed the edges of the sleepy side’s blanket cocoon and gently kicked the other off of the bed.

Patton let out a yelp as he was moved and remained silent for a moment as he dangled within the confines of his cocoon.

“You better hurry up and get out of there soon, Pat. You don’t wanna be ham-mocked for being lazy now, do you?”

And, of course, that was the last straw.

The cocoon shook with Patton’s laughter and Virgil grinned widely as he slowly started pulling the other back onto the bed and into his arms again.

Patton was still giggling when he got there and happily hugged Virgil back.

“You’re the worst alarm clock, Virgil.”

“Now that is just straight up not true. I am the best alarm clock. Ten outta ten, would wake up a sleepy Patton again.”

The moral side only giggled more in response and the two remained cuddling on the bed for a moment, until the giggles finally calmed.

Then, before Patton could become sleepy again, Virgil untangled himself from his friend and his blankets and slid swiftly off of the bed.

Patton whined a little at the loss of warmth and contact but was still smiling when Virgil turned back to him.

“You gonna get up now, Pat?”

Patton sighed a little as Virgil ran a gentle hand through his messy hair.

“Yeah. Are you gonna be making breakfast today?”

“Nah. Everyone else is already up so Logan is probably trying to make omelettes without letting Roman over season them again.”

The, slightly more awake now, side giggled once more.

“Okay. I’ll meet you downstairs in a bit then. Thanks for waking me up, Virge.”

Virgil smiled softly at the other.

“No problem, Pat. I’ll see you in a bit.”

And with that, Virgil stood up from the bed and started to make his way to the door.

But then he stopped.

“Oh, I almost forgot something.”

Patton titled his head a little, looking up at him with slightly sleep clogged eyes.

“What is it?”

Virgil smiled again and returned to his previous spot on the bed.

“This.”

There was a sudden pressure on Patton’s nose and he stared wide eyed at the other’s face as the previously soft smile suddenly turned wicked once again.

“Boop.”

Then Virgil slid off of the bed and sank through the floor, reappearing in the hallway and happily making his way down to the kitchen.

For a moment, all was quiet.

Virgil greeted the others downstairs and calmly sat down on an empty counter top.

Patton stared at the space where Virgil had only just been and tried his best to  process, with his sleepy brain, what had actually just happened.

Then, Virgil pulled out his phone and Patton realized that he had just experienced a  **horrendous betrayal**.  

**_“VIRGIL!”_ **

And the house was filled with noise.

Logan dropped a spatula, Roman screamed, Deceit fell off his seat, and Virgil didn’t even blink.

“What just-”

But Roman was interrupted before he could finish his confused and slightly alarmed question.

“Fair’s fair.”

Was all that Virgil said, and the others decided that it was probably best if they didn’t know what exactly that meant.

And so, by the time Patton eventually joined them, everyone had calmly returned to their original tasks.

Patton, meanwhile, seemed to have calmed as well and the matter of the scream was quickly forgotten as the day finally began.

When breakfast was finished Roman left with Deceit to practice some scenes Thomas needed to have memorized soon, Patton started on doing the dishes, and Virgil and Logan decided to remain at the table and have a discussion on the mythology surrounding certain aspects of astronomy.

“Well, I’m done with the dishes now.” Patton eventually said, making his way over to the two sides at the table. “So I’m gonna go ahead and get started on my work for the day.”

Logan nodded in acknowledgement and Virgil raised a hand for a quick wave.

“Alright, work hard.”

“Indeed. And may whatever work you do be successful.”

Patton smiled kindly at them both.

“Thanks guys. See you lat-OH!”

Then Patton tripped, seemingly, on nothing and suddenly Virgil was across the room and pulling him gently into his arms.

He huffed a little as he held the moral side close.

“Geez, Pat. You startled me for a second there.”

Patton just giggled and gave his savior a quick hug.

“Sorry, Virgil. I just wanted to make sure I could give you something.”

Virgil’s brow furrowed in confusion.

“Wha-”

“Boop.”

Logan watched with wide and fascinated eyes as Patton quickly tapped his finger on Virgil’s nose, only to immediately sink into the floor and out of sight.

Leaving a slowly blinking Anxiety behind.

Logic almost jumped out his seat when Virgil suddenly snorted.

“That tricky little jerk.”

And Virgil rolled his eyes as he made his way back into his seat to return his attention to Logan once more.

“Anyways, what were you saying about Pluto again?”

And Logan quickly came to the conclusion that this was simply one of the many things the two emotional sides seemed to share with each other.

Perhaps it was a game, or maybe just a strange gesture of affection.

Logan did not know and would likely not find out unless one of them was in the mood to explain it to him.

But that was fine.

Virgil and Patton had their shared games and gestures.

He and Virgil also had their quiet early morning’s.

And he and Patton had their onesie sleepovers.

All of the sides shared some secrets and games and habits with each other.

It was a part of being a family, as far as Logan could tell.

So Logan simply smiled at the side looking intently at him and returned to his mini-lecture on the roman god of death and their relation to the planet that was named after them.


	3. Deceptively Difficult

When Deceit noticed, things escalated  **very**  quickly.

And it was **entirely** his fault.

It all started on a normal busy afternoon within the Mindscape.

Logan was working on Thomas’ schedule with Roman in the Memory Library and Thomas himself was trying not to get distracted while he worked on a script.

Deceit, meanwhile, was with Virgil and Patton within the Nightmare Plane.

Now, this wasn’t a very  **common**  occurrence.

But it did happen on occasion, especially after Roman and Logan learned to really accept Anxiety as a good part of Thomas.

Virgil had just finished his work for the day and Patton was still bouncing in excitement as he gushed on about how amazing the other side was and what a wonderful job he’d done, while Deceit simply snickered quietly at the embarrassed and defeated expression on the anxious side’s face.

The three had decided to spend the rest of their time before dinner relaxing in the Nightmare Plane’s living room.

With this in mind, Deceit had agreed to retrieve some snacks from the kitchen while the other two went ahead to make themselves comfortable.

It was while he was rummaging around within Virgil’s aesthetically spoopy kitchen that Deceit found something that made his lips turn up in the wickedest of grins.

After quickly obtaining the snack items he’d been searching for, he sneakily hid the item within his cloak and made his way to living room.

“I do not come bearing snacks.”

The two both smiled at him.

“Thanks, Deceit.”

“You’re a good noodle.”

Deceit narrowed his eyes at Virgil while Patton giggled quietly behind a bag of chips.

Then the lying side smiled sweetly and the anxious side found his own eyes quickly narrowing in suspicion.

“Why, of course. I am the best noodle.” Patton snorted and swiftly covered his mouth with his hands as he watched the two more menacing side’s with wide eyes. “After all, only a good noodle would do something like… **THIS**!”

Patton gasped and Deceit quickly leaped back, seemingly ready to bolt at any moment.

Virgil remained completely still.

His eyes were wide with shock as he stared, cross-eyed, at the giant glob of icing Deceit had just dabbed onto his nose.

“Oh my god…”

Patton said as he lowered his hands.

“Oh my god.”

Deceit repeated with a grin of delight.

“You booped him…”

“I booped him!”

“You booped me.”

The other side’s twitched at Virgil’s stunned words.

They remained completely still, not knowing yet if they should run or stay, as Virgil slowly stood up and started to walk to the kitchen.

He remained there for a moment, using water from the sink to wash the icing away.

And Deceit felt something like dread creep into him.

“Virgil?”

Then the sink turned off, and Virgil looked at Deceit through the opening between them.

For a moment, the two simply stared blankly at each other.

Until Patton looked between them one last time, turned to look Virgil straight in the eye, and said in a slightly mystified voice.

“It’s a side quest.”

Virgil glanced at him quickly before returning his sharp gaze towards Deceit.

“Challenge accepted.”

And Deceit ran upstairs without hesitation.

Thankfully, Virgil was looking at this like a game so he actually had a chance to get away.

A chance that he was going to take full advantage of.

“ **IT’S A BOOP BATTLE!** ”

Patton’s excited scream only egged him on as he lunged at the tiny door under Virgil’s bed and slid through it as quickly as he could.

Upon crawling out and into Virgil’s room in the Mindscape, Deceit sprinted out to the hallway and took off in a random direction.

The hallways shifted and morphed as they quickly manifested themselves for his purpose.

Rooms, that hadn’t existed moments before, were simply seen as a blur while Deceit made his way towards literally anywhere but where Virgil was.

Unfortunately, and unsurprisingly, it didn’t take long for Virgil to catch up.

**“Get back here, bowler hat guy!”**

Deceit let out an almost hysterical giggle as he skidded around a corner, almost sliding into a room filled to the brim with cuckoo clocks.

“I’d rather not be the t-rex!”

Virgil’s own laugh echoed ominously behind him and only served to make Deceit run faster.

A crazed thought rushed through his mind that Virgil was really far too well suited for his job.

Out of all of the sides he was truly the best at instigating an adrenaline rush of fear, seemingly without even trying.

The closest second was Patton, who could be downright  **terrifying**  when he wanted to be.

Although, admittedly, he did spend a good portion of his time with Virgil so it was incredibly possible that the scarier side had simply rubbed off on him.

_‘Yes, it was all Virgil’s fault.’_

Deceit thought as he screamed and flailed back towards his pursuer.

Patton had appeared in front of him with a shout of “ **BOO** ” and a rather maniacal laugh while holding up his hands like claws.

Virgil’s responding chuckle was far too close for comfort right then and Deceit decided that the only way to escape now was to do exactly what Virgil had just done.

Get some backup.

So, with that thought in mind, Deceit sank through the floor, quickly reappeared in Thomas’s living room.

And shrieked.

**“THOMAS HELP ME! YOUR ANXIETY IS TRYING TO KILL ME!”**

This was very much an exaggerated lie but, oh, did it feel like the truth.

“What!? Deceit?”

Thomas’s own responding shout of alarmed confusion was met with two twin whooshing noises, a terrifyingly warped voice, some slightly out of place giggling, and more shrieking.

**_“HE CAN’T SAVE YOU.”_ **

Deceit screamed wordlessly as he scrambled up the stairs to where Thomas sat in his bedroom.

Virgil tackled him as soon as he reached the doorway.

“THOMAS!”

Thomas just watched with wide eyed bewilderment as Virgil loosely held Deceit down, allowing him to struggle for the sake of prolonging the game.

Then Virgil’s voice boomed through the house once more, sending shivers down everyone’s spines as he let out a terrifying cackle.

**_“YOUR STRUGGLES ARE USELESS! NO ONE CAN SAVE YOU NOW, NOODLE BOY!”_ **

Deceit let out a soft sort of squawk of indignation while Thomas tried to muffle a helpless giggle behind his hand and Patton leaned against a nearby wall to keep himself from falling over with laughter.

But then, suddenly, Virgil was off of Deceit and on the floor with a shaking Patton laying on top of him.

“Run, Danger Noodle!” Patton barely managed to say between gasps of breathe and laughter. “Be free!”

Virgil snorted and Deceit immediately took advantage of Patton’s opportunity to launch himself onto Thomas’s bed and hide behind his, still slightly confused, host.

Thomas continued to laugh as the lying side latched onto the back of his shirt and hissed quietly at the other two on the floor.

“Oh my god, guys. What is even going on here?”

“A side quest!”

Patton’s breathless exclamation shifted back into giggles as Virgil gently removed him from his chest and shifted him to lay on the floor alone.

Thomas blinked and shook his head incredulously as Virgil rolled his eyes and stood up once more.

“Yeah, and you’re interfering with my quest goal. So move it or lose it, Sanders.”

Thomas quirked an eyebrow and looked back and forth between the three sides in his bedroom for a moment.

Then, after glancing away only once and wondering silently if he was going to regret what he was about to do, he looked his Anxiety straight in the eye and spoke.

“Make me.”

Silence descended.

Patton stared at Thomas in shock and Deceit swiftly let go of him and rolled onto the floor to hide behind the bed instead.

And Virgil, after blinking once in surprise, smirked in a way that made Thomas hastily remind himself that Virgil was in fact his **Survival Instinct**  and would not actually murder him in his own bed.

“You are going to regret saying that.”

Virgil said as he stalked menacingly toward the bed.

Thomas swallowed and unconsciously inched himself a little further away from the approaching side.

“Yeah, I know. I already do.”

And then Virgil was on top of him and Thomas was screaming as he struggled uselessly, shouting out frantic apologies as the other two sides fled to watch safely from the doorway.

Then the screams turned to howls of laughter as Virgil dug his hands into his hosts sides and began his assault.

**“VIRGIL! NO! STOP! I’M SORRY! FORGIVE ME!”**

_**“NEVER.”** _

If anything, Thomas’s shouts only seemed to make things worse as Virgil wrapped his entire body around his host and strengthened his attack.

Patton watched from the doorway with a bright smile on his face while Deceit  finally relaxed now that he was no longer the object of Virgil’s focus.

Unfortunately for Deceit, Virgil had not forgotten his original mission and soon brought his assault on Thomas to an end.

He did so by rolling them off of the bed, making sure they landed with his back hitting the ground first, and over towards the others while Thomas continued to struggle.

“Switch.”

Was all he said before grabbing Patton’s hand and pulling him down to lay on top of Thomas.

Patton simply giggled happily at the new development and contentedly wrapped his arms around his host while said host finally took the moment of freedom to breathe.

Then Virgil’s hand shot up once more and Deceit was shrieking once again as he found himself in almost the exact same position he’d been in when they’d entered the room.

Only his struggles were met with more resistance this time and he knew that this would finally be the end for him.

And he’d gotten  **so**  close to getting away with it…

“Booped.”

Deceit stopped shrieking with a sigh of defeat as Virgil’s finger pressed gently against his nose.

Thomas, still wrapped up in Patton’s arms nearby, blinked a few times in shock before his eyes became impossibly wide.

“OH MY GOD IT’S BACK!”

His shout wasn’t questioned as Deceit lamented on his loss and Patton shouted out a congratulations to Virgil for finishing his quest successfully.

Virgil, meanwhile, pulled everyone back up from the floor and reminded them all that dinner was supposed to start soon so they should probably get to the kitchen before Logan and Roman burned everything down in their absence.

Patton let out a gasp and grabbed Virgil by the arm before quickly sinking back into the Mindscape with a shout of “But I just washed the stove!”, Virgil’s amused laughter fading out as they went.

Then Thomas, still shocked and eternally confused, looked over at Deceit.

“What even  **was**  that?”

Deceit paused in straightening his clothes and dusting himself off, looking back at Thomas after shooting a quick glance over to where the other two sides had just disappeared.

“I’m entirely sure of what it was and I don’t think it was absolutely terrifying.”

Deceit said with narrowed eyes and, honestly…

Thomas could not agree more.

“At least I’m not the only one who thinks that…”

His sigh spoke volumes and Deceit snorted before sinking wordlessly into the floor.

And Thomas was left alone in his room once more.

He looked back at where his laptop had been haphazardly shoved during Virgil’s attack earlier and took only moment to consider his options before making his way downstairs. 

Logan would probably be annoyed with him but…

There was no way he was getting back on track after all of that.

And there was no way that Virgil was going to trust Deceit with icing for the rest of their days.

But that was fine.

It was worth it, Deceit decided as he shifted into his snake form to wrap himself loosely around Virgil’s neck while the anxious side idly stroked his scaled head and talked to Patton as the father figure cooked their dinner.

It was  **all**  worth it, just to see the look on Virgil’s face when he’d booped him.


	4. A Creative Response

The last person to find out was Roman.

And when he did, it kicked off a series of events that would be remembered for the rest of time as "The Goose Incident".

It was the last day of an absolutely  **exhausting**  week for Thomas and the Sides.

And all of them were now in the common area of the Mindscape, preparing for a movie marathon.

Thomas was upstairs, stealing a massive amount of blankets and pillows from each side's rooms.

Roman was sitting on the couch, flipping through movies on Netflix.

Logan was in the kitchen, retrieving some snacks for everyone.

Virgil was also sitting on the couch, sleepily staring into space.

And both Patton and Deceit were leaning against Virgil, Deceit already fast asleep and Patton still surprisingly awake as he played idly with one of Virgil's hands.

Things were blissfully peaceful and quiet.

**"GAH!"**

Until a shout from upstairs startled Virgil enough to make him flail his arms and stand up.

Deceit went flying into Roman who was sent hurtling off of the couch.

And Patton was shoved, unceremoniously, over the back of the couch with a yelp.

Meanwhile, Logan stared wide eyed at Virgil who looked about ready to murder someone with his bare hands.

**_"THOMAS?!"_ **

His voice was already heavily distorted.

And he sounded so genuinely alarmed and concerned that it made Thomas feel a little bad about the reason for his shout.

"I'm okay! Sorry, Virg! I just tripped on a blanket and fell over! I'm fine though! You can relax!"

And he  **was**  fine.

In fact, he was actually quite comfortable, having fallen onto the ridiculous amount of blankets and pillows he'd collected in the hallway.

_**"Really?!"** _

Virgil's voice was still distorted, but it was slightly less panicked than before.

"Yeah! I'm good!"

Then he visibly relaxed.

"Oh...okay."

And fell bonelessly onto the couch once more.

There was a moment of quiet as the others relaxed as well.

Roman and Logan both let out little laughs, Deceit slumped against the side he was now laying on, and Patton let out a small huff from behind the couch.

Then Thomas shouted again.

"But, I could do with some help carrying everything downstairs!"

The anxious side blinked and groaned, sliding further down the couch cushions.

"No! Too much work! Make Logan do it!"

There were several snorts from the rest of the house and some offended spluttering from the kitchen.

"WHAT?! No! I am already doing something, Virgil! If anything, Roman should do it! I'm sure he's strong enough to carry most of the blankets himself."

Roman scoffed and shook his head as he climbed back onto the couch, Deceit clinging to him sleepily as he did so.

"I'm afraid you'll have to look **elsewhere**  for your assistance. As  **I**  am currently busy with the important task of choosing our movies for the night."

Virgil groaned again and sank deeper into the couch cushions.

"Deceit!"

The other's response was a drowsy hiss.

Virgil's groan only increased in volume and Thomas chuckled from where he now stood at the top of the stairs.

There was a sigh from behind the couch.

"Alright. I guess that just leaves me then."

"Patton!"

Virgil cheered as the fatherly side rolled onto the cushions next to him.

"Thanks, Pat. I appreciate it."

Thomas offered him a smile and he smiled easily back.

"No problem, kiddo."

Then he stood and started to make his way forward, before an idea popped into his head.

Thomas only needed a glimpse of Patton's suddenly mischievous expression before his eyes widened with shock.

"Oops!"

And Virgil lurched off of the couch again as the moral side tripped on nothing at all.

As always, Patton was instantly caught and held close by his protective best friend.

"Patty!"

Virgil actually whined in complaint and gave the other a small squeeze.

Thomas continued to watch, still wide eyed and waiting for what he  **knew**  would happen next, as Patton giggled and squeezed the anxious side tightly back.

"Sorry, Virg! I just needed to make sure you were up for a second!"

And Logan's eyes widened too as he came to the same realization as Thomas.

"Why tho?"

Patton smiled sweetly at his friend.

"Because it takes longer for you to react when your holding me like this!"

Deceit blinked awake slightly at the surprising words and Roman raised a confused eyebrow.

Virgil just squinted, his brow furrowing a little.

"What?"

Then Virgil tensed in shock at the feeling of a finger pressed gently against his nose.

And Patton looked him dead in the eye and spoke that single word that made three of the others tense up alongside him.

"Boop."

Patton sank into the floor right after and Virgil remained motionless, staring at the empty space where his friend had once been.

"C'mon, Thomas. Let's go get the blankets and everything."

Thomas jumped at the sudden voice behind him and looked quickly between a smiling Morality and a frozen Anxiety.

"Um..."

He looked at the other sides briefly.

Deceit's mouth was open in shock, Roman looked  **very**  confused but also amused, and Logan was staring curiously at the side still standing in the middle of the living room.

"Okay."

After Thomas followed the smiling side up the stairs, the common area became deathly silent.

It took quite some time for Roman to finally give into his confusion and ask what was going on.

"Um, what was that? Virgil? You alright there, Hot Topic?"

And, apparently, that was Virgil's queue to come back to himself.

His face scrunched up in an exaggerated frown and he stomped over towards the kitchen.

"Virgil?"

Logan backed away from the approaching side with his hands up.

The others stayed where they were.

Everyone was tired.

Especially Virgil and Patton, after having to deal with Thomas' emotions and anxiety all week.

And, while Patton could be a bit of a pain when he was tired, Virgil was far worse.

Because, when Virgil was tired, he had some very strange habits that nobody could really do anything against.

Startling easily was one of them.

Another was being particularly lazy.

And another was, well...

Virgil stopped in front of the fridge and took a deep breathe, still frowning at everything and nothing.

Then he screamed.

"THIS HOUSE IS A  **FUCKING NIGHTMARE!** "

And started climbing onto the fridge.

Roman and Deceit laughed from the couch and Logan sighed with a smile.

With Virgil now situated on the high up surface, the others continued with their original tasks.

Nobody bothered to acknowledge the side perched up on the fridge, not even when Thomas and Patton returned with the blankets.

Nobody acknowledged it.

But they all knew what would happen eventually.

And Logan, who considered himself to be a rather good friend to his anxious counterpart, decided to help speed things along.

"Ah, Patton. While your still up, do you mind retrieving a can of soda from the fridge? It appears I neglected to grab the appropriate amount."

The moral side blinked in surprise, but still smiled at the other with a nod.

"Sure, Lo. No problem. Be back in a jiff."

And the others waited.

Thomas looking curiously between them as they silently watched everything through the kitchen window.

He jumped when Patton screamed, but relaxed again when he saw what was happening.

"YOU BETRAYED ME! I TRUSTED YOU AND YOU BETRAYED ME!"

Virgil was shouting as he grabbed Patton by the shoulders and started hauling him onto the fridge.

Patton, meanwhile, was struggling valiantly as he shouted back.

"YOU STARTED IT! YOU THREW ME OFF THE COUCH!"

Virgil let out a sound similar to a squawk and tossed the other into the air briefly before catching him around the waist. 

"THOMAS WAS IN DANGER! YOU WERE IN THE WAY! I DIDN'T EVEN MEAN IT ANYWAYS!"

Patton pressed a hand against Virgil's face and shoved as hard as he could.

Virgil barely moved at all.

"YOU STILL  **THREW ME OFF THE COUCH!**  YOU DESERVED IT!"

Virgil whined and pulled his hostage closer, rubbing his head against the other's cheek while Patton tried to find some way to escape before he was whisked away by his sleep-deprived best friend.

"BUT I DIDN'T  **MEAN IT** , PATTY! I LOVE YOU!"

He says this as he shakes Patton back and forth in his arms.

The other let's out a snort despite himself and continues to struggle.

"I LOVE YOU TOO! BUT YOU ARE  **THE WORST!** "

Then Virgil gasps and the others watch with some surprise as he drops his hostage like a hot potato.

Patton falls onto a small cushion of shadow, Virgil apparently still instinctively protecting him from harm, before landing gently onto the floor.

"You think I'm the worst?"

Virgil's voice is shocked and offended and he has a hand pressed against his chest.

Meanwhile, Patton seems to have come to a terrifying realization and quickly stands up while waving his hands frantically.

"No no no no no! No, I don't! Virgil! You can't-"

" **I'M**  THE WORST?!"

Virgil's voice is starting to distort just a little and shadows are starting to leak into the air around him.

The others all stand up in alarm as the house starts to expand.

Patton becomes a little more frantic.

"NO! VIRGIL, NO! NOT HERE! STOP IT! NOT AGAIN!"

But it's apparently too late because Virgil stands up on the fridge and glares down at Patton with a toothy grin and glowing violet eyes.

_**"I'LL SHOW YOU THE WORST!"** _

Then the anxious side is encased in shadow and everyone watches in shock and slight horror as the shadow expands, falling onto the now open space of the kitchen floor and growing to the size of a school bus.

After staring for a moment, Patton whirls around and runs towards them.

Then he runs past them.

"Patton?!"

Thomas shouts in alarmed confusion.

"RUN!"

Is all the other says in response right before a horrific roar booms through the spacious area.

And the others quickly join Patton in running away-

_**"I'LL BE THE WORST OF THE WORST!"** _

-from the giant goose chasing after them.

There's a lot of screaming and running, but there is no escape, the others quickly find out.

Virgil had apparently locked them into the common area, preventing them from opening doors and sinking out.

They were all stuck in a huge room with a giant goose and there was nothing anyone could do about it.

Although, Thomas managed to do something.

It wasn't very helpful for the others though.

If anything, it just made things worse for them.

Because, at one point, Thomas wondered if the protective side would be willing to spare him and stop chasing him around with the others.

So he stopped running and just stood in front of the rampaging bird.

Virgil stopped.

He stared.

And then he ate him.

Or, at least, it  **looked**  like he ate him.

But then he moved his head and very gently placed a slightly damp and disoriented Thomas onto his back, tucked him carefully beneath his wings, and continued chasing the others with a vengeance.

Thomas, of course, decided that this meant he'd switched teams.

So he started shouting encouragements to the over sized bird that only egged him on. 

And the others continued to run away from the transformed side for quite some time.

It was, perhaps, a few hours later when Patton finally misstepped and got caught.

In that time, the others had all gotten caught and were now sitting with Thomas on the bird's back, shouting encouragements now that they'd 'switched teams'.

They had also come to the conclusion that this was one of those bizarre games of tag that Virgil apparently played with Patton when he was sleep deprived.

It was really the only explanation for why Patton seemed so good at dodging and avoiding giant geese.

He had experience.

But the game was finally over and Virgil had finally won.

He overtook Patton quickly and ignored the other's shout of alarm as he, gently, sat on top of him.

Then the giant goose let out a demonic sounding honk of victory before craning his head down and very carefully pressing his beak against his hostage's nose.

_**"BOOP."** _

The warped voice sent vibrations through the air and Patton let out a defeated sigh.

"Fine. You win this time."

Virgil let out a few pleased warbles and his feathery body started to ooze shadows once again.

The others took this as their cue to jump ship and move away from the swiftly transforming goose.

The house shrank back to normal size as the anxious side did the same until everything was back to normal and Virgil was laying on top of Patton, still warbling happily while snuggling close to the other.

Patton, meanwhile, let out a few tired but happy giggles and wrapped his arms around his friend.

And Virgil let out a deep warbling sound that almost sounded like a purr.

"Well, that was...exciting."

Thomas said with a small laugh.

Roman laughed too, Deceit snorted and yawned, and Logan smiled with a roll of his eyes.

Patton giggled again.

"Yeah, sorry about that guys. I kind of forgot how tired Virgil was. I probably should have saved the booping for later."

Roman squinted his eyes at him and the others all shared a knowing look.

Then Patton stood with a grunt of effort and quickly tossed himself and Virgil back onto the couch.

"Well, now that everything's calmed down again, how about we get back to our movies, huh?"

And the others could have questioned him a little more about everything.

They could have asked about the boops and the goose game and what exactly the two best friends apparently did when they weren't around the others.

But they didn't.

Instead, they all settled back onto the couch.

And promised themselves that they would all ask about it later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey!  
> So, real quick, because this is a pretty popular fic and I'm finally posting this part of it after a few weeks, I wanted to mention something.  
> If you haven't seen it yet, I have a patreon.  
> I'd appreciate the support there so I can write more often without worrying about making money as much elsewhere.  
> Here's the link if your interested in seeing the stuff there or pitching in a dollar or two.  
> https://www.patreon.com/Cerillen  
> Sorry for imposing on you guys like this.  
> I'm just trying to make a living on doing the stuff I love.  
> I'll leave you guys alone now.  
> Hope you liked the fic!


	5. The Beginning of Something Great

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy new year everybody!  
> Let's start this year off with the end of an era and something actually fluffy for once!

It was strange, how they’d never noticed before.

Virgil and Patton had been friends for years at this point.

And the game, or whatever it was, seemed to be something they’d been doing for just as long.

And yet, nobody had actually realized it was happening.

Nor why it was even happening in the first place.

Not until now.

“Boop.”

“No!”

Patton’s shout shook with giggles as he reached up towards the side towering over him.

“That’s not fair! We just got back! And it’s movie time! No Booping allowed! That’s the rule!”

Virgil raised an eyebrow while resting against the back of the couch where Patton was sitting, as the other side started gently ruffling his hair.

“I never agreed to this rule.”

“But it’s still a rule!”

Virgil shrugged with a small smile as he moved to sit on the couch next to his best friend.

“Rules are meant to be broken, Pat.”

His smile grew as he flopped down against Patton, causing the other to giggle even more at the motion.

“That still doesn’t make it fair, Virgil.”

“That’s true. But you can just get me back for it later. So it’s fine, right?”

Sharp violet eyes were calm and happy as they met with the gentle blue, which softened at the sight.

Patton huffed and wrapped his arms around the one leaning against him, smiling all the while.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right. I’ll just have to make sure it makes up for it somehow.”

And Virgil laughed, making everyone in the room smile involuntarily, as he settled more comfortably within his best friend’s embrace.

“I look forward to it.”

“Alright! That’s it! I can’t take it anymore!”

Roman’s loud words averted everyone’s attention away from the two cuddling on the couch, and the princely side stood up from where he’d been sitting on the floor, hands resting on his hips as he stared the two down.

Virgil raised an eyebrow again.

“What?”

The creative side pointed a finger at his shadowy counterpart, and waggled it around a bit for good measure, as he continued to speak.

“You two have been doing this  **boop**  thing for a while now. And I know for a fact that I am  **not**  the only one who wants to know what it actually is. So I’m just going to do what we’ve  **all**  been wanting to do since the beginning, and ask the question.”

A pause for dramatic effect, that everyone knew better than to interrupt, occurred.

A breath.

And then…

“What is happening with all of the booping?”

There was a moment of silence as everyone waited for the cuddling duo to respond.

Which was broken with a bang as Patton jumped up excitedly from the couch, sending Virgil tumbling onto the floor without warning.

Of course, Virgil being Virgil, he only fell for a moment before he caught himself with his hands.

Meanwhile, Patton’s gasp of excitement shifted into a cough as he realized what he’d done, leaving the others to watch with some amusement and slight concern as the two attempted to recover from the sudden actions.

Unsurprisingly, Virgil did so first.

“You alright, Pat?”

Patton nodded as the other gently patted his back while Logan, whom had been inside of the kitchen with Deceit this entire time, approached with a quickly obtained glass of water.

The water was accepted gratefully and the moral side took a few seconds to take some sips and clear his throat before speaking.

“I’m fine, thank you, Virgil. And thank you for the water, Logan.”

“You’re welcome, Patton.”

“Oh! And I’m sorry I knocked you over, Virgil. I was just so excited to tell the story that I kind of forgot you were there!”

The other side huffed out a quiet laugh and gave Patton a nudge in the side.

“It’s fine, Pat. You’d have to do a lot worse to make me  **actually**  fall, y’know.”

The smaller side quickly grabbed Virgil’s arm in a tight grip and looked at him with a completely serious expression.

“I would never do something like that to you. And if anyone ever does, I will physically fight them for you.”

That garnered a larger laugh and Patton’s serious face broke rather quickly to smile in response.

“Thanks, Pat. I’ll make sure to tell you if that ever happens.”

The moral side smiled even more, pulling gently at the other to sit back down beside him again.

“Great! I’m glad! Now! Let’s start the story! I’ve been wanting to tell everyone about it for ages! It’s one of my favorites!”

Virgil hummed in agreement as he settled, once again, against his best friend on the couch.

“Yeah. It’s a nice one.”

And so, once everyone else was also settled and ready to listen, Patton began telling the story of the Great Boop War, and how it all began.

* * *

 

A few weeks after Patton convinced Virgil to be friends, Virgil went to visit him.

The moral side had given him an always open invitation to his realm, so Virgil had arrived completely without warning.

Unfortunately, this meant that he caught Patton while the other was crying his eyes out in his field.

And Virgil, unused to friendship and how it was supposed to work, was left stumbling as he tried to think of a way to make Patton feel better.

“…morality?”

The other side startled at the sudden voice behind him, accidentally sending a small barrage of spiky glowing orbs into the air around him.

Virgil stared at the orbs with some shock, as Patton also stared at him in return.

It took a moment for one of them to finally come back to themselves enough to respond.

“Oh!”

Patton’s sudden shout made Virgil startle this time, as the other quickly flapped his hands to make the orbs around him dissolve.

“I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to make those appear! You just startled me a bit so I just kind of reacted without thinking! I’m sorry! I swear I didn’t-”

“Morality.”

The rough voice halted Patton’s rambles and made him realize how wound up he likely looked.

His hands twitched in the air around his head, before he made them close into fists and fall down to his sides.

Then he took a breath and smiled with a small sniff.

Virgil’s own hands twitched and his frown only deepened at the actions.

“Sorry, Anxiety. I was just having a bit of a rough time. It’s fine though! I’m-”

_**“Patton.”** _

Light blue eyes widened, almost comically, and clenched fists loosened in shock.

Patton had told Virgil, as soon as they became friends, that he could call him Patton instead of Morality.

Since then, Virgil hadn’t been able to build up the courage to do so.

He also hadn’t used his ‘scary’ voice around him since then either.

Both happening at once left the moral side frozen in shock and the anxious side trying not to run away out of fear.

But, despite the fear of rejection that was filling him, Virgil stood firm.

This was more important.

“Patton.”

A softer voice this time, matched by softened violet eyes, and filled with an affectionate concern that made Patton’s heart hurt.

“It’s okay. You don’t have to lie or anything. We’re…”

Uncertainty filled the soft gaze and only made Patton want to wrap the other up in a hug and never let go.

“We’re friends, right?”

“Of course!”

The instinctual shout made both sides jump from the sudden volume.

But it also made Virgil smile a little, so Patton was sure it was alright.

“Right.”

Violet finally met blue, and the two stared at each other as Virgil softly spoke.

“So you don’t have to pretend you’re okay. If you’re hurting, you can tell me. And I can do whatever you need me to do to help. Cus…that’s what friends do, right?”

Patton had thought it before and would continue to think it for the rest of his days.

There was no way that Anxiety was a bad side.

He was far too kind.

Tears started falling again, and Virgil took a hesitant step forward, looking like he wanted to help but wasn’t sure how to do so.

It made Patton smile and laugh a little through the tears.

“Yeah. Yeah, you’re right. That’s exactly what friends do.”

Then he raised his arms towards the other, still smiling while his tears continued to fall.

“Can you give me a hug? I think I really need one right now.”

There was barely a second of hesitation before Virgil was wrapping his arms around his smaller counterpart.

And, as soon as he was secured in the arms that left him feeling safe, Patton started sobbing.

His tears fell faster and he held onto the other tightly as his sobs shook his body down to the core.

And Virgil continued to hold him, unconsciously nuzzling him as he did so.

Eventually, small sounds, that Patton had never heard before, started to rise from the darker side’s throat.

They were soft and rumbling, almost like a purr.

And they eventually fell from his lips in the form of little warbling noises that gave Patton a strange sense of comfort.

Time passed with the two of them holding each other tightly, as Patton cried and Virgil tried his best to comfort him.

But, eventually, the tears stopped.

And Patton relaxed quietly into his friend’s arms, said friend continuing to softly warble as he held him and nuzzled the top of his head.

It was with a soft sigh and a sniffle that the moral side finally pulled away from the other.

He wiped at his face, using a tissue he’d summoned, as Virgil stood there patiently.

And when he was done, he smiled.

Though it didn’t quite reach his eyes.

“Thanks, Anxiety. I know I kind of derailed things a bit but, why’d you decide to stop by? Did you need something?”

And Virgil, not knowing what else he could do at this point, decided to do something that had always helped him feel better when he was sad as well.

“Boop.”

It took a few seconds of wide eyed staring for Patton to process what happened in that moment.

Virgil’s hand had moved lightning fast, and the contact had been feather light against his skin, so it had been hard to tell.

But when he realized what it had been, Virgil by now growing nervous and even more unsure about whether he was handling things correctly, his smile was bright enough to rival the sun.

“Oh…”

The anxious side relaxed a little, still nervous but reassured by the smile that finally reached his friend’s eyes.

“Um-”

“Boop! You’re it!”

Another moment of frozen shock, this time from Virgil, occurred.

Patton continued to smile, his eyes seeming to regain more and more of their usual cheer by the second.

“Is that how you play tag? Like, your own version of it? Is that why you came by?”

The moral side was starting to bounce now with only slightly restrained excitement.

And Virgil found himself relaxing further, his own smile starting to appear as he was reminded why Patton had been able to befriend him in the first place.

“Yeah. Yeah, you’re right. About all of it.”

He understood him.

“So I should run now, right?”

Not because they were exactly the same.

“Yeah, probably.”

But because he wanted to.

* * *

 

“That’s so cute!”

“It figures that’s how this all started.”

“Indeed.”

“I’m totally surprised.”

Patton’s laughter filled the common room, Virgil smiling gently beside him.

“Virgil…”

The anxious side looked over to the logical side on the other side of the room.

“Yeah, Logan?”

“I must admit to being rather curious about this. Where exactly did you come up with this game in the first place? The only one of us who willingly interacted with you back then was Patton.”

The statement left a sour sort of taste in everyone’s mouths, but it did present a good point.

Where had the Boop game come from?

It was with a surprisingly happy smile, and the sudden darkening of the room, that Virgil gave them the answer.

“These guys taught it to me.”

And the room filled with shadows.

They slithered into the room, roaming about to nuzzle against everyone in greeting before returning to Virgil.

“Whenever I was sad and in need of something to take my mind off of things, they’d show up and boop me on the nose before running away. For a while, I was confused. But, eventually, I realized that they wanted me to chase them. And it turned into a game we played together.”

The shadows warbled affectionately before returning into Virgil’s realm, nuzzling against him as they went.

Virgil’s smile was soft and loving as he watched them go.

“Oh my gosh, it just keeps getting cuter.”

Thomas’ words were met with laughter and agreements as everyone returned to their previous tasks, accepting that the story had finally been finished and their questions had finally been answered.

And, as he watched everyone busy themselves with preparing for movie night, Virgil couldn’t help the sentimental feeling that filled him.

It was always a good reminder for him.

No matter how alone he’d felt before becoming a side, he’d never been truly alone.

Even then, he’d always had a family.

Even then, he’d always been loved.


End file.
